Jermaine Jenas Exclusive: It's time for Mark Noble to get his chance for England

In the era that I played for England, there was a huge amount of competition in the central midfield area. Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard were the mainstays, and after that you had to get past the likes of Michael Carrick and Nicky Butt, not to mention Paul Scholes being around too.

But when I look at England's midfield ahead of Euro 2016, I'm not sure who will play - and I don't think Roy Hodgson does either. The England manager chopped and changed a lot in qualifying, partly due to injuries, with Jordan Henderson, Jack Wilshere, James Milner, Fabian Delph, Adam Lallana and Jonjo Shelvey all getting opportunities. They are all good players, but not one of them is in top form and reliable in terms of their fitness, and that's a real worry for Hodgson. I'm a big fan of Carrick, but at 34 you also have to include him in the same category.

A player who has been consistently overlooked in the position is Mark Noble. And I admit that when I was playing, he was an opponent I respected more than I feared. But this season he has reached another level.

If you look at all England's central midfielders right now, the West Ham captain is definitely in the top five. In fact, he is playing better than every single one of the players I just mentioned. So it's surely time for Hodgson to give him a chance.

Noble has been unfortunate in the respect that he has played in that era of outstanding central midfielders, a bit like I was to a degree. But he said after West Ham's impressive draw against Manchester City on Saturday that he is playing the best football of his career, and I agree with him.

We are obsessed in England with the idea that we're not good enough at retaining the ball, and that our players treat it like a hot potato. But Noble is calm and comfortable on the ball, and what he has shown in this improving Hammers side is that he becomes more effective when he has top players around him. He's not the kind of holding player to kick lumps out of people; rather he's excellent at retaining the ball and giving it to attacking players like Dimitri Payet, or in England's case Ross Barkley and Raheem Sterling.

Some believe Noble's lack of pace prevent him being international class, but that's not the be-all and end-all in his position. I don't see Andrea Pirlo or Daniele de Rossi winning many sprints, for example. Instead, those players are quick in their minds. You don't need to be fast if you're clever in your positioning, and that's exactly what Mark Noble is. I've played against him on numerous occasions, and when you face him up one-on-one you do feel that you could just run past him. But he rarely get himself into situations where he can be exposed like that. He's very cute in where he positions himself on the pitch. Slower players have to be.

Alex Song played in a deeper role than Noble against City, but for England I think Noble would fit best into that holding role with two good runners either side of him - Henderson and Delph for example. I watched Swansea employ a similar tactic against Everton on Sunday, with Jack Cork and Ki Sung-yueng playing alongside the anchoring Leon Britton. It worked brilliantly in terms of keeping possession, while Britton was able to snuff out Barkley from that deeper position. And with all respect to Britton, Noble is a better player. He protects the ball well, he uses it well and he's also more versatile than someone like Britton because he is comfortable in more attacking midfield positions too.

The fact is that no England player has made that holding midfield position their own. Wilshere, Milner and Shelvey have all played there, but I think they are all more effective further up the pitch. On current form, you'd have to pick Eric Dier ahead of them because he has been playing regularly for Tottenham and he has barely put a foot wrong. The same applies to Noble. Dele Alli has been outstanding, but I think he'd be best used coming off the bench in the Euros and he could set the tournament alight.

Questions marks will remain over Noble. Is he powerful enough? Does he dominate enough? Does he score enough goals? You could argue that he doesn't, but that's not his game. His strengths lie in his all-round game, not to mention his fitness record. Another thing he has going for him - and you can't underestimate it given England's tournament history - is that he's one of the country's best penalty takers.

A lot of England managers have weighed these factors in the past and opted against picking Noble. But he has been patient and he has simply got better. His time is now.